Directions
by Mertz
Summary: Completed - Characters play hard to get, some swearing and sexual content
1. Chapter 1

I do not own Voltron or any of the characters, all disclaimers apply.

I came up with a new story line I thought I would play with. Let me know what you think...no flames please. This is probably the first half. I'll try to finish it as soon as I can.

Thanks!

* * *

Keith sighs as he follows Allura around the village as she visits with her people. He would have rather stayed at the castle and left this assignment to Lance; however Lance had somehow lost his balance as he and princess were leaving and fell into the lake below the draw bridge. Allura didn't want to wait for Lance to swim to shore and go dry off and change so since Keith was standing there he was "appropriated" for the job of life guard today.

Keith and the Voltron force had only been on Arus for nine months, but things have improved quite a bit since their arrival. Most of the people had left the caves and had returned to their homes. Sven and Romelle had escaped Planet Doom and were back on Planet Pollux, engaged no less and Keith was still trying to keep Allura at arm's length. A difficult job to do when Lance seems to be trying to do everything he can to keep throwing the two of them together. Keith seriously doubts that Lance "accidently" fell into the lake as he had made sure Keith was on the bridge when it happened by making Keith follow them to the bridge to finish their ongoing discussion.

Not that Keith and Allura always get along, sometimes he thinks she does things to deliberately irritate him and then the next minute Allura will smile at him and beguile him into getting her way since God knows he has a hard time resisting that smile. Keith has also been uncomfortable with the few times he has looked up to catch Allura studying him before she turns away to converse with someone else.

Keith wanders over to a tree and leans against it as he watches Allura hugging the children that had run up to her. He was staying within 20 feet of her, but stayed far enough away so that the people felt like they could approach their princess. He was studying the sky that was steadily getting darker with approaching rain when he felt something tackle his legs. He looked down to find a little boy of around three holding on to his legs and giggling.

He smiles at the little boy and bends over and picks him up, "Hey little fella, who do you belong to?" The little boy hugs Keith and Allura looks up to see them and smiles at Keith. "Tommy…I'm sorry sir." A slight woman approaches Keith, "He didn't hurt you did he?"

Keith smiles at her, "Not at all, he's a cute kid." Keith then hands the little boy back to his mother as Allura approaches. "Making new friends?" she is still smiling at him. Keith returns her smile with one of his own, "Apparently, are you ready to leave? I don't think we want to get caught in the approaching rain."

Allura finally looks up to the sky, "I didn't realize the storm was moving in this quickly. Of course we can leave now." Allura turns to her people and bids them farewell and follows Keith back to their horses. They mount and start cantering back to the castle. Shortly before the castle lightning strikes a tree close to princess causing her and Keith's horses to rear. Allura falls off her horse and lands on the ground grabbing her leg as her horse races away. Keith manages to get his horse under control before he notices Allura on the ground.

"Allura!!" Keith jumps off his horse hanging onto the reins, "Are you ok?"

Before Allura can answer a huge clap of thunder causes Keith's horse to rear again and Keith is unable to hang on to the reins of his horse and falls backward away from the horse as the horse manages to pull the reins from Keith's hands and runs off following Allura's horse as Keith lands on his butt.

"SHIT!" Keith sits up and turns back to find Allura still on the ground, "Are you ok?" he asks again.

Allura shakes her head, her face white with pain, "I think I landed wrong on my ankle…"

Keith sits down on his knees beside her and straightens out Allura's leg and then examines it. Using his fingers he follows the bones along her calf and ankle, "Nothing feels broken…can you stand on it?"

Keith helps Allura up to stand on her uninjured leg. Allura tries to put her injured foot down and cries out as she tries to put some weight on it. Keith wraps his arms around her waist as Allura falls into his chest.

Keith sighs, "Well, not broken but badly sprained. I'll call Castle Control and have them come and get us." Keith pulls his communicator off his belt to find only half of it. He looks over to where he fell and there is the rest of the communicator, he must have landed on it when he fell.

"Dammit!" Keith looks around, "We are at least two miles away from the castle, there is no way you are going to be able to walk it."

Allura pulls away from Keith and sits back down on the ground holding onto her bad ankle, "I'll be fine; why don't you run to the castle and get help."

Keith gives Allura a look that clearly states he thinks she is nuts, "I'm not leaving you out here alone!"

More thunder nearby, Keith looks up to the skies and really doesn't like the looks of it. Allura gives Keith a disgusted look, "It won't take you long to run; I know how fast you are, just go!"

Keith leans down and pulls Allura back up to her feet, "I will not leave you out here alone, lean on me, we will try to walk to the castle."

Keith keeps his arm around Allura's waist but they don't manage two steps before Allura turns to face Keith and gives him an irritated look, "This isn't going to work, I can't put any weight on the foot Keith!"

Keith grimaces, "Fine, hop on my back, I'll give you a piggy back ride."

It's Allura's turn to give him a look that states she clearly thinks he is crazy. "You can't carry me on your back for two miles!"

Keith loses his patience, "Look Princess Allura, either you can hop on my back for a ride or I'll throw you over my shoulder and carry you that way, choose one or the other as I am not leaving you out here alone and we can't continue to just stand here and argue."

Allura's eyes grow huge with outrage, "Are you always this much of an ass?"

Keith shakes his head giving a mirthless laugh, "You really need to stop hanging out with Lance, alright, you have chosen…" He then bends over and quickly throws Allura over his shoulder and starts walking toward the castle holding her legs tight to his chest so she can't kick him as Allura is yelling at him and hitting his back with her fists.

* * *

About a mile later Allura has finally quit yelling and hitting him but she hasn't lost her anger. _How dare he treat me like this?_ She thinks to herself and yet a tiny part of her is a bit thrilled by the way he was hanging on to her and she enjoyed the feeling of his arms and hands on her thighs and calves. She gives half a thought to scaring the hell out of him by grabbing his butt since she has been admiring it for the last mile but doesn't like the idea of landing hard on the ground again if he were to drop her.

Keith sighs as he walks trying to pick up the pace with the extra weight. _I'm going to catch hell for this later…_ as he thinks of how Nanny and Coran will react when they see how Keith is carrying Allura. He personally can't believe he did this either. Normally a very calm person it usually takes a lot for him to lose his temper like that but somehow Allura manages to get under his skin quickly.

With another clap of thunder it starts to rain, "Just great…" Keith mutters and wonders what else will go wrong when he hears the sounds of heaven, at least to him. Keith looks up and see's the Red Lion flying above him and as he lands Lance's voice projects down, "There you two are; we decided to come looking for you when the horses returned without you."

Keith still holding onto Allura jumps up to the cockpit door and finally lets Allura down after they enter the cabin. Lance looks at Keith with raised eyebrows, "What happened anyway?"

Allura answers before Keith can, "Lightning scared the horses and they reared, I hurt my ankle when I landed and the "wonderful" commander here decided to carry me back." The word "wonderful" stated with a huge amount of sarcasm.

Lance raises his eyebrows at Keith again whose face just turned scarlet red. Lance wisely turns back around, clears his throat and takes off for the castle.

* * *

In MedTech Coran and Nanny hover around Allura as Dr. Gorma examines Allura's leg. "There is nothing broken, just a bad sprain." Dr. Gorma wraps the ankle and then places an ice bag on it. He looks at Allura, "I'm sure you will be able to walk on it a bit by tomorrow, but you will have to take it easy for a few days."

Coran exits Allura's room to find Keith and the other members of the force sitting in the waiting room. Coran gives Keith a small smile, "Well, you were right, it isn't broken, but Princess Allura won't be moving around too well for a couple of days. You may go in and visit her if you wish."

Keith reluctantly follows Lance, Pidge and Hunk into the room. Allura smiles at the first three talking with them and ignores Keith entirely who stands near one wall with his arms crossed over his chest. Lance notices the silence between them and sighs thinking _so much for that plan…_

* * *

Two days later Allura is up and walking although with a slight limp. She finishes dressing and walks down to the dining room for breakfast to find Keith sitting alone in the dining room. She looks around surprised, normally all the guys are in the dining room well ahead of her.

Keith looks up from his coffee, his face carefully neutral, "Good morning Princess Allura."

Allura sighs, Keith has been very formal with her since their return to the castle and not that she can blame him. She hasn't exactly been nice to him either. She moves to sit across the table from him, "Keith, I'm sorry about the way I behaved the other day. I was in pain and not behaving very rationally."

Keith looks up surprised and then shakes his head at her, "Actually I am the one who should apologize to you Allura. I shouldn't have thrown you over my shoulder like that."

Allura smiles at Keith; for once he had dropped her title when he said her name. She was about to respond when Lance and Hunk enter the room and Keith turns and begins a conversation with them.

After breakfast the guys are leaving for hand to hand combat practice on the field when Allura stops Keith by grabbing his arm, "Please let me attend practice today."

Keith looks Allura over and then shakes his head, "Princess I don't want you to risk hurting your ankle any more than it is; you need to heal first."

Allura looks around to make sure no one else has entered the room and then pleads with her eyes, "Please Keith…if you don't at least let me come outside Nanny is going to force me to spend the morning studying."

Allura continues to watch Keith's eyes, which have started to dance with laughter. Nanny enters the room and approaches them, "Ah…Princess, come, time to start your studies…"

Keith looks away from Allura who has let go of his arm and looks to Nanny as Coran also enters the room, "Sorry Nanny, the princess is going to join us this morning for practice. We are going to work on her hitting and defense skills from the ground position.

Nanny opens her mouth to argue when Coran interrupts her, "Keith, do you think that is wise with her ankle still being injured?"

Keith looks over to Coran, "Actually it is perfect practice for her right now. She won't be using the foot at all Coran and it is good for Princess to learn how to defend herself when her primary kicking leg is unavailable to her."

Coran nods, "Yes I suppose it is, very well."

Keith and Allura quickly leave the dining room before Nanny can once again interfere. Walking down the hallway Allura turns her face toward Keith, "Thank you. I was going to go mad if I had to spend another morning stuck in my room with those books."

Keith struggles to keep the smile off his face, "You realize of course you are going to have to work out now as you know Nanny will be watching you."

Allura sighs as she looks away, "I suppose so; so what are you going to teach me?"

Keith looks over to Allura studying her profile, "How to try to hit me without being on your feet like I said I suppose."

Allura gives a small laugh, "This should be an interesting morning then, are you going to sit on your knees?"

Keith looks away and sighs, "Delay about 30 minutes so I can work with the guys for a while. I'll see you down at the practice field Princess." He then turns and goes down the hallway toward his bedroom to change into his workout clothes leaving her behind watching him.

* * *

Allura arrives on the practice field 30 minutes later as requested and finds Lance and Pidge trying to take Keith down and Hunk off to the side watching. Allura stands by Hunk, "So what do you think their odds are of actually knocking Keith off his feet?" she whispers to Hunk.

Hunk chuckles, "Between slim and none. Captain is just too fast for them."

As Hunk predicted Keith knocks Lance on his butt and then pins Pidge down causing Hunk to laugh out loud. Keith looks over and notices Allura standing beside Hunk and then looks back to the castle to see Nanny watching from a balcony.

Keith sighs and runs his hand through his hair, so much for avoiding this one. _Why can't I say no to those blue eyes… _he moves over to Hunk, "Take my place while I work with Princess Allura please Hunk."

Hunk moves to Lance and Pidge who have gotten back on their feet and says smugly, "Ok you two, let's see if you can take me down." Lance and Pidge look at each other and then attack Hunk.

Keith shakes his head at them and directs Allura to a place off the side of the field beside the lake. He kneels down and uses his hand to invite Allura to do the same. Once Allura is on her knees in front of him he begins, "Ok, we taught you how to hit while standing and using the weight of your body to push out your punches, now you need to try to hit me while staying on your knees and unable to throw more weight behind the punch."

Allura raises her eyebrows at Keith and begins to throw punches at him that he easily blocks. He sighs with impatience, "Princess, you need to watch my eyes…I can tell where you are going to try to hit me as you are looking there first."

Allura's eyes raise to meet Keith's filled with irritation; she begins again, now it is harder for Keith to block her punches but he is still managing it without too much trouble. Suddenly he gets distracted as he notices Lance, Hunk and Pidge going by them in a rolling ball and watches them fall into the lake as Allura manages to get a punch past him hitting Keith in the throat.

Keith rolls away from Allura bent over choking and holding his throat as she gasps in horror. "My God Keith! I'm so sorry, are you ok?"

Keith rolls onto his back still holding his throat, eyes watering, as Allura falls beside him her hand on his stomach leaning over him and looking into his face, "Keith, are you ok?"

He gasps, "Are we even now for me throwing you over my shoulder?"

Allura's eyes widen, "You wretch!" and she slaps him in his belly.

"Ouch! Allura quit!" Keith grabs her hand hanging onto it, his eyes meeting hers and they both freeze.

From the lake they hear Hunk, Lance and Pidge climbing out of the water and Keith looks away from Allura toward the lake. Lance looks over to Allura sitting above Keith and moves over to them dripping, "What happened?" Keith quickly lets go of Allura's hand as she sits up smiling at Lance, "I managed what you couldn't do earlier and hit Keith in the throat."

Hunk and Pidge start laughing as Keith struggles to his feet still holding his throat, "It wouldn't have happened if you three monkeys hadn't rolled by and landed in the lake distracting me."

Lance gives Keith an appraising look which Keith looks away from as he helps Allura to her feet. He looks into her face again, "I think that is enough practice for today."

Suddenly they hear a loud explosion and the sound of a space ship above them. They all look up as a huge Doom space craft that is on fire flies by above them and they watch it crash several miles past their location. "Let's get back to the castle." Keith turns and runs for the castle, the rest of the force following him.

In castle control Coran is at the monitors watching the space ship crash and scanning for survivors. He turns as the force comes running in, "I am not picking up any life signs not that means anything." Keith looks at Coran, "I think we need to launch and check this out."

Coran nods and turns around pressing the button to raise the launch bay. All five head for their lions and launch heading to the crash site. The crash site is in a gorge below a set of high cliffs. All five lions land on the highest ledge. Keith scans but comes up with no life signs, "All right everyone, if this is some kind of trap I don't want all of us caught in it. Lance, you and I will land down there and check out the crash; Princess, Pidge and Hunk will remain up here and monitor the situation."

Keith and Lance use the lions to jump down the ledges and land just before the burning wreck. Climbing out of their lions they both jump down and raise their laser guns heading into the wreck. Lance looks around wrecked command center, "Keith it doesn't look like anyone was on the ship." Keith moves forward and checks the computer, "Looks like it was on autopilot…"

Lance moves up behind him, "What's this blinking light?" Lance pushes the button before Keith can give a warning and something rises up out of the panel and explodes. Keith pushes Lance knocking him to the ground but doesn't get out of the way fast enough himself.

Lance pulls himself up off the floor, "Keith!!" He moves beside Keith, who is lying face down on the ground. Lance turns him over and finds Keith is knocked out and his face is bloody. Lance hears more sensors going off and picks up Keith in a fireman's lift and carries Keith out of the ship as the command center explodes and knocks them both over.

Inside her lion Allura screams as she watches the ship explode from above, "Keith! Lance!! Can you hear us?" The other three lions race down the ledge and exiting their lions; Hunk, Pidge and Allura run toward Keith and Lance. Lance is picking himself up again as Hunk makes it to him and helps him up, "What the hell happened?"

Pidge and Allura race to Keith and turn him over, Allura chokes on a sob. Pidge puts his finger to Keith's neck checking for a pulse, quite happy to find one. Lance shakes his head at Hunk and moves quickly to Keith, "It was a Doom trap, Keith knocked me out of the way of a small bomb but was hit. We have to get him back to the castle quick!"

* * *

Sitting in the MedTech waiting room Lance prowls around like a caged animal. "It's my fault Keith's in there hurt instead of me…" Hunk rises from his seat and grabs Lance by the shoulder, "You didn't know it was a trap."

Before Lance can answer Dr. Gorma comes out of the examination room, "Commander Keith will recover." Everyone in the room lets out a sigh of relief. Dr. Gorma shakes his head at them, "There is another problem, the bomb went off in the Commander's face and some shrapnel entered his eyes. It needs to be surgically removed, but I don't have the necessary knowledge."

Allura covers her mouth her eyes filled with horror. Lance falls into a chair and hangs his head between his hands. Dr. Gorma continues, "I've contacted Galaxy Garrison and they are sending an optical specialist to perform the needed surgery. He should be here tomorrow sometime. I am keeping the Commander sedated until then."

Coran rises from his chair, "How long do you think it will take the Commander's eyes to heal?"

Dr. Gorma shakes his head at Coran, "I have no idea how much damage there is Coran. It would depend if the shrapnel just scratched the cornea or if it damaged the retina. I just can't answer that question."

Coran drops his chin to his chest and then turns and faces the rest of the team. "We will need to contact Planet Pollux and request Sven to take Keith's place until we can ascertain how much damage has been done. Without someone to fly the black lion we would be sitting ducks."

Every eye in the room looks up to Coran but nobody answers him. Coran looks at each of them, noting the tears running down Allura's face and then turns to leave the room, "I'll be in the control room contacting Sven, let me know if the situation changes."

* * *

On Planet Doom King Zarkon is yelling at Lotor and Hagar, "What was the point of destroying one of our space ships. You didn't even manage to kill any of them."

Hagar looks into her crystal ball, "Patience my King, my spies tell me that at least one of the members of the Voltron force was injured. Now is the time to strike while they can't form Voltron."

Zarkon draws himself up to his full height, "And did the same spy manage to tell you that they pulled that space explorer my idiot son allowed to escape, from Planet Pollux? They can still form Voltron you old hag."

Zarkon yells for his guards, "Get these two idiots out of my sight." He looks back at the pair again, "If you were going to deliberately crash one my ships you should have had it crash into the castle or the lion that sits outside of it." He sits back down on his throne as Lotor and Hagar leave, "I'm surrounded by idiots."

* * *

Coran greets Sven and Romelle as they arrive, "Thank you Sven, Romelle for coming so quickly."

Sven shakes Coran's hand, "How is Keith, anything new?"

Coran leads them into the castle as he explains, "The doctor from Earth arrived this morning and took Keith into surgery shortly thereafter. Everyone is waiting in the MedTech waiting room for news."

Coran takes them to MedTech and Allura rises and hugs Romelle and Sven as they enter the room. Sven holds Allura away from him, "What's going on?" Allura looks over to Lance who answers for her, "He is still in surgery Sven, it's been four hours already and we haven't heard anything."

Sven and Romelle join the rest of the team sitting in the waiting room, an additional two hours go by before the doors open and the doctors come out. Dr. Gorma approaches the team, "Princess Allura, may I introduce you to Dr. Jules the Ophthalmologist from Earth who just finished the Commander's surgery."

Dr. Jules steps forward and shakes the Princess' hand, "Highness, I managed to remove all the shrapnel, but will not know the extent of damage to the retina until the eyes heal and the bandages come off in two weeks time. At that point we will find out how much the Commander can see and if further treatment will be needed. I'll be staying for the duration and hope to pass on some of my knowledge to Dr. Gorma while I am here."

Allura thanks Dr. Jules and turns to Dr. Gorma, "Is he awake yet?" Dr. Gorma smiles at her, "Not yet Highness but if you and your friends would like to sit in his room and wait for him that will be fine."

Allura and company enter Keith's room and sit in the chairs surrounding the room with Allura taking the seat closest to the bed. Allura takes his hand in hers and looks into Keith's face. His eyes are bandaged otherwise she can see the tiny cuts the shrapnel made across his face though none of them deep enough to scar thank God.

When nobody can handle the silence anymore Lance begins a conversation with Sven and Romelle asking about conditions on Planet Pollux and any Alliance news Sven has heard.

* * *

Keith awakens to hear the voices of his friends, including Sven…_What the hell is Sven doing on Arus?_ Keith tries to assess his condition, he has a headache, he can feel a hand holding onto his own and he can't see anything. Keith squeezes the hand holding his and is rewarded with hearing Allura saying his name. In a slightly groggy voice, "Allura…where am I?"

Allura sits up beside him on the bed still clinging to his hand and stares down at him aware that the others have moved closer to Keith as well, "You're in MedTech. Do you remember anything that happened Keith?"

Keith tries to concentrate past his headache, "The crashed ship…but nothing beyond that. Why can't I see anything?" He lifts the hand Allura isn't holding and attempts to touch his face only to have Allura grab that hand as well. "Keith, leave the bandages alone."

He can finally hear Lance's voice, "You saved my worthless hide from a bomb, but got hit with it yourself. You got some shrapnel in your eyes Keith, that's why you have bandages there, you just got out of surgery."

Keith finally feels a sliver of panic and grips Allura's hand firmly, "What kind of damage?"

Allura lets go of one hand and covers the other hand she was already holding caressing his hand, "We don't know yet Keith…" she says quietly. "The bandages need to stay on for two weeks according to the doctor and then you will find out if you need some other treatment."

Keith says nothing continuing to grip Allura's hand for a moment; he eventually pulls it away from Allura, "Did I hear Sven's voice earlier?"

Allura stands up and moves away from Keith's side as Sven moves closer, "Yes, Coran asked me to come cover the black lion for the time being…something about not trusting you to not crash into the castle…"

Keith gives Sven half a smile. Romelle walks up to Allura and takes her hand motioning her toward the door. The ladies exit the room leaving the guys to converse with Keith.

* * *

Allura shows Romelle to the room she and Sven will be staying in and Romelle sits on the bed observing Allura. Allura looks at Romelle inquisitively, "What?"

Romelle shakes her head and then smiles at Allura, "So what's going on between you and Keith?"

Allura looks at Romelle confused, "What do you mean? He is my friend…"

Romelle laughs quietly, "That is what I kept trying to tell Bandor about Sven before we finally broke down and admitted we cared about each other. Come on Allura, I saw the way you were watching him and the way you were caressing his hand."

Allura sighs as she sits down and looks out the window before looking at Romelle again, "I don't know…I like Keith, but I don't know if he even likes me. Sometimes I get the sense that he isn't interested at all and he wants me to keep away and then the next moment he will do something or say something…the whole thing is just confusing."

Romelle gives Allura an encouraging smile, "You know Sven used to do the same thing to me…"

Allura shakes her head and sighs, "But he can make me so mad…." Allura tells Romelle about the other day and ending up on Keith's shoulder. Romelle falls back on the bed laughing, "You should have grabbed his butt since he was offering it to you…"

Allura joins Romelle laughing, "I was afraid he would drop me…" Allura then proceeds to tell Romelle about their practice session before the crash occurred. Romelle looks at Allura speculatively, "I'm guessing Keith is doing what Sven did…"

Allura waits but when Romelle says nothing, "And what would that be?"

Romelle sighs, "I'm guessing he is attracted to you, but doesn't want to admit it and won't do anything about it as you are a Princess and he sees himself as below your station. So he is trying to stay away from you and treat you as just one of the guys."

Allura groans in frustration, "But he doesn't treat me like one of the guys, he is always warm to them. Most of the time he won't even say my name without using my title. The rest of the guys joke with me and will talk about all kinds of things with me, Keith either leaves or quits the conversation when I join in."

Romelle shakes her head, "He really is trying to keep you at arm's length…although I noticed he didn't let go of your hand right away." Romelle studies Allura some more, "Do you want something to happen with Keith?"

Allura's cheeks turn red as she looks down, "I'm not sure…"

Romelle takes her hand and Allura looks back up at her, "If you want him then you are the one who is going to have to make the moves Allura. I think Keith is even more stubborn than Sven and that is saying something."

Allura gives a half laugh, "Like what? Grab his butt when he walks by…I don't think that will work Romelle."

Romelle sighs, "Let me talk to Sven…he knows more about Keith than anyone else but Lance."

Allura looks alarmed, "I don't know Romelle…what if he says something to Keith?"

Romelle smiles at Allura, "Oh…I don't think you have to worry about that…Sven can be…agreeable when I offer him something in return…"

Allura looks at the smile on Romelle's face, "You look like the cat that ate the canary…"

Romelle laughs again, "No, I just know how to work around Sven."

* * *

Later Sven leaves his bedroom, his conversation with Romelle on his mind. _That little minx…_ he laughs to himself. Despite Romelle's best efforts he had finally told her he wouldn't do or say anything until he knew what was going on with Keith. He had to promise Romelle first that he wouldn't say anything about what Allura told them. Romelle had made it worth his while to keep his mouth shut about that. Sven figured the best place to figure out what was going on with Keith, besides asking Keith directly which probably wouldn't be a good idea, would be to talk with Lance.

Sven knocks on Lance's door and hears "Enter."

Sven walks in to see Lance getting up from his bed, "Hey Sven, what's up?"

Lance sits back down as Sven takes the chair by Lance's desk and turns it around, sitting on it facing Lance, "I just had an interesting conversation with Romelle…"

Lance smiles, "Are you sure this is something you should share?"

Sven gives a laugh and shakes his head, "It had more to do with Keith and Princess Allura then her and me."

Lance looks at Sven inquisitively, "Keith and Princess?"

Sven smiles, "Romelle is under the impression that there is something going on between them. Allura wasn't talking so she wanted me to find out from Keith what's going on..."

Lance doesn't return the smile but sighs, "I wish something would happen between them…"

Sven's eyebrows go up, "What do you know that I don't?"

Lance leans back on his bed and begins, "You know how unwise it is to ask Keith anything about his personal life…"

Sven grimaces but nods, "Yeah I recall you finding that out the hard way when you tried to set him up on a blind date back at the academy…"

Lance shudders at the memory, "Yeah…well, that doesn't stop me from noticing things. I've been watching both of them for the past couple of months. I've caught Allura studying Keith more than once and it isn't just casual interest…I've caught her staring at his butt more than once."

Sven gives a small laugh and Lance continues, "But Keith is harder to catch. I've only caught him watching her once which normally wouldn't mean anything…I'm mean after all Allura is a beautiful woman…what warm blooded male wouldn't watch her…"

Sven nods and Lance continues, "You know how Keith is known for his patience and ability to control his temper…it almost isn't normal…," Sven nods, "but Allura has this ability to completely piss Keith off that no other person has ever had. I can't even make him lose it like she can."

Sven starts laughing again and Lance looks at him smiling, "What?"

Sven wipes his eyes and calms down enough to answer, "Yup, Keith likes her alright, Romelle has that exact same ability with me…"

Lance nods, "Yeah well that is the conclusion I came to as well so I've been trying to set them up here and there, subtly trying to make them spend time together. Not that anything I've done has worked."

Sven sighs and nods, "Yeah…trying to mess with Keith like that is like playing with a snake; sooner or later you will get bit."

Lance snorts, "I've already come close…he suspected something on the last attempt, which didn't work anyway as they ended up fighting…" Lance tells Sven what he knows of the last outing and finding Keith carrying Allura over his shoulder.

Sven laughs till he cries, "He actually threw her over his shoulder…my God she really can make him lose it…"

Lance smiles, "So how do we get them together?"

Sven returns the smile with one of his own, "Ok, I'm going to let you in on something…" he proceeds to tell Lance about his conversation with Romelle and Allura's interest in Keith. "The main thing is we won't have to do anything outside of giving the girls some information on Keith on how to get around him. Then we step back and do nothing, that way Keith can't blame us…"

Lance starts laughing, "Too bad you and Romelle weren't here a month ago…"

* * *

Sven returns to his and Romelle's bedroom and enters to find Romelle sitting on the bed talking to Allura. "Ladies…."

Romelle turns and smiles at Sven, Allura turns red and looks away. Sven smiles…_I can imagine what these two were talking about…_

Romelle touches Allura's arm as if to reassure her, "Sven…what did you find out?"

Sven wanders over to the bed, when Allura finally looks up to him and he sees the apprehension on her face he decides to take pity on her and not tease her. "Princess, Keith does like you, but Keith is being Keith…"

Both Allura and Romelle look at him confused with Romelle being the first to speak, "What exactly does that mean?"

Sven sighs, moves over to the only chair in the room and sits down facing the girls and crosses his arms and legs, "You have to understand Keith is a very private person. Lance and I learned years ago not to poke around Keith's personal life, with regards to women in particular."

Romelle raises her eyebrows at Sven, "So what kind of information is that?"

Sven chuckles, "I just want you two to understand where I'm coming from before you ask for too much help. When it comes to Keith I can point you in the right direction, but I won't actually do anything beyond that…let's just say it wouldn't be good for my health if Keith were to find out."

Romelle looks ready to argue but Allura touches her arm and nods at Sven, "I can accept that."

Sven smiles at her, "In that case…Keith is…how do I want to put this…married to his job. He takes it very seriously which is why he made Commander at a very young age. To that extent, Keith tends to ignore women in general as he doesn't feel it is right to keep them waiting for him; he won't make promises he can't or won't keep. So far Galaxy Garrison has always come first for him. The second thing you need to understand about Keith is he is all about control, he needs to feel in control at all times."

Allura nods at Sven and he continues, "So if you want Keith Princess you are going to have to have tough skin, as chances are good that even though Keith is attracted to you, he is going to push you away and turn you down. You will have to be more stubborn than he is, get in his face and stay there. Keep him off center. He may push you away many times before he will cave in and admit to you or himself that he wants you."

Allura sighs, "But how do you know he is attracted to me? I can't get him to open up to me at all…"

Sven smiles at her again, "That is his defense mechanism…Allura I know he is attracted to you thanks to some info Lance passed on."

Allura turns red again and Romelle give Sven the evil eye, "You weren't supposed to say anything to Lance."

Sven holds his hands up as if in surrender, "Lance already knew that you were attracted to Keith Allura, apparently he caught you staring at Keith a few times too many…especially his backside."

Allura turns even redder if possible and closes her eyes while covering her mouth with her hand as Romelle laughs and Sven continues, "Allura you are the only one that Lance or I knows of that can make Keith lose his temper in about 5 seconds flat."

Romelle gives Sven a knowing smile but Allura looks confused again so Sven chuckles and continues, "You can get under his skin Allura…at the academy Keith was nicknamed Ice by our trainers; training missions that would make most of us lose it Keith would approach with a calmness that was almost abnormal. They couldn't make him lose his temper, it was another reason he rose through the ranks so quick, his ability to stay calm in any situation and make rational decisions."

Allura still looks confused so Romelle breaks in, "Allura if you can get under his skin he won't be able to ignore you, at least not for long…"

Sven smiles at both of them, "With that I will leave you two alone to conspire against my poor friend." Sven gets up and heads toward the door stopping just before it to look back at the girls, "I almost feel sorry for him…" with that parting remark he laughs and leaves the room.

* * *

Keith sits by himself in the rec room waiting for Sven to join him. He managed to get out of MedTech two days after his surgery, but still had the bandages on so had to learn how to get around the castle without help. The first day the guys kept "running" into him and helping him out when he got stuck somewhere but it didn't take Keith long to figure out how many doors were between each of the areas he needed to go.

Keith sighs; Allura has been trying to help him out as well. It seems like he can't go anywhere without running into her. Every time she approaches him she has to touch him, his arm, his cheek, taking his elbow to try to lead him somewhere although she acts like she only wants him to escort her to her destination. He shakes his head…she has been around him more in the last two weeks than she had in a month. She has been going out of her way to be nice to him and it was driving him crazy.

_Thank God these bandages come off this afternoon…_ he sighs again as the door opens.

"Keith…sorry to keep you waiting." Sven enters the room and sits across from Keith. Keith says nothing but continues to sit there thinking. Sven watches him before deciding to interrupt, "Keith, what's going on?"

Keith shakes his head, "I was just thinking about Princess Allura, have you noticed she is acting a bit strange lately?"

Sven silently thanks God that Keith can't see his face, "Not really…what do you mean?"

Keith hesitates, if it wasn't Sven he wouldn't say anything, "I don't know…we get along normally, but lately she seems to be hanging on me and that just isn't normal for her."

Sven tries to keep his tone normal, "Perhaps she is just worried about you…"

Keith waves that away, "Forget I said anything…how did practice go today?"

* * *

Later that afternoon Keith goes to MedTech for his appointment, he can hear the voices of his friends as he enters the room. "What's everyone doing here?"

Lance and Sven stand up; also in the room are Allura, Romelle, Hunk and Pidge. Sven is the one to approach Keith, "We all want to be with you when the doctor removes your bandages Keith."

Keith is a little taken aback, but nods. Dr. Jules comes out to the waiting room, "Commander, ready?"

Keith nods and the doctor leads Keith into the exam room and has him sit on the examination table. The others gather in the room around him. As Dr. Jules removes the bandages, "Now Commander don't open your eyes until I tell you to. I need to remove the gauze and then wipe off the protective gel."

Keith sits still while the doctor does his job, "Ok Commander, now keep in mind you most likely won't have the same vision as before, we are trying to find out how much you can see. Now open your eyes slowly…"

Keith slowly opens his eyes and doesn't speak.

Dr. Jules studies him, "Keith, how much can you see?"

Keith's voice comes out in a mere whisper, "Nothing…just some light."

The audible gasp from Allura can be heard and Keith shuts his eyes again and drops his head to his chest. Dr. Jules moves forward, "Head up, let me look with my instruments."

Keith brings his head back up, "Everyone out…"

Allura starts to say his name and Keith shouts, "OUT! GET OUT!"

Tears are running down Allura's face, Lance approaches her and takes her arm, guiding her out of the room, everyone else follows. Dr. Jules stays in front of Keith, "Commander…"

Keith breathing deeply puts his hand up, "Please…give me a few minutes doctor…"

Dr. Jules sighs, "Very well, we aren't done yet Commander…I will allow you the time you need though. I'll be back in a few minutes to continue the exam and figure out our next steps."

Keith says nothing and turns his face away as the doctor exits the room and finds everyone out in the waiting room. He waits till the doors close before speaking to the group. "The Commander reacted badly, but I was expecting vision loss. After he calms down I will reexamine his eyes and see what we can do next to correct the problem." With that Dr. Jules turns and enters his office leaving the stunned crowd in the waiting room.

Sven looks at Lance and then at the rest of the group, "Lance and I will stay here and try to talk to him. Why don't the rest of you go, we will let you know what the doctor says later."

Romelle looks at Sven and then to Allura who is still crying, "Sven…"

Sven shakes his head at her, "It will only make it worse for him if we are all out here. Please let Lance and I try to talk to him."

Hunk and Pidge nod and leave the room; Romelle wraps her arm around Allura's waist and leads her out. Lance looks at Sven, "Do we dare go back in yet?"

Sven shakes his head, "No…let him calm down first or he will just explode. Once he calms down he will listen to us, but not before."

* * *

Back in the exam room Keith sits on the exam table shaking, his hands balled into fists. He opens his eyes again and tries to look around the room but can only see light and some shading. His mind is racing in a million directions at once unable to settle on anything but the need to get out of this room.

He gets off the table and finds the door leading to the waiting room opens it and passes through it to hear Sven's voice, "Where do you think you are going?"

Keith doesn't answer but keeps moving forward in the direction of the door. Keith feels someone grabbing his arm and he pulls away turning toward them and growls, "Leave me the hell alone…"

Sven's voice again speaking softly, "Keith, the doctor was expecting you to not see well…"

Keith chokes on a mad laugh, "Not see well…I CAN'T SEE ANYTHING!"

Lance's voice now pleading, "Keith…the doctor isn't done, he needs to finish the examination to see how they can fix your eyes…"

Keith looks up toward the ceiling and sinks on his knees to the floor, tears rolling down his face as he hears Dr. Jules comes out of his office.

"Commander, please come back into the examination room…"

Keith wipes his face as someone helps him to his feet and he reenters the exam room sitting back down on the table as the doctor starts his examination.

* * *

Dr. Jules finishes the exam and turns to see the Commander's friends still in the room with them before he turns back to Keith. He sighs, "Ok, I'm not going to bullshit you Commander, the damage is far worse than I thought. I won't be able to fix your eyes with the technology at my disposal."

Keith pales visibly but says nothing so the doctor continues, "However, the medical personnel on Planet Terrell have made more advances in healing than even I know about. I've been in touch with a Dr. Franden from there and he wants to see your records. He mentioned a procedure they have that regenerates tissue, including eye tissue. They may be able to come here and repair your eyes but I need your permission to forward your records."

Keith doesn't move or speak, just sits there staring out into nothing. Lance moves forward, "Keith, give the man permission…"

Keith still says nothing, but finally gives a brief nod of approval. Dr. Jules grabs Keith's shoulder, "It isn't over yet Commander…worst case scenario is you would need an eye transplant, don't give up yet." With that he turns and leaves the room leaving Sven and Lance with Keith.

Sven studies Keith and then looks over at Lance who returns his look of concern. Lance approaches Keith and says his name.

Keith finally turns his head toward his friends, "Get me the hell out of here…"

Sven moves forward, "Where do you want to go?"

Keith gives a half mad laugh, "Where can a worthless blind pilot go?"

Lance gets mad, "Keith for God's sake, you aren't worthless…"

Keith gets off the exam table and heads toward the door again and hits his fist against the controls till he finally hits the button that opens the door and leaves MedTech with Sven and Lance following. Keith walks down the hallway his hand on the doorways counting as he goes toward his room. He enters his room the door shutting behind him. Lance walks up to the door pressing the button to open it, but the door will not open, he looks back at Sven, "He locked the damn door…"

Sven shakes his head and sighs, "Leave him alone Lance, he needs to work this out for himself."

Sven and Lance walk down the hall toward the rec room to give the bad news to the rest of the force.

* * *

Two days later Allura is sitting in her room speaking with Romelle when Coran enters. Allura studies Coran's face, noticing how upset he is, "Coran, what's going on?"

Coran sighs and hands Allura the paper in his hands, "Commander Keith has requested a transfer…"

"WHAT?" Allura grabs the paper from Coran's hand and quickly reads it.

Coran sighs, "He wishes to return to Earth Princess. I've spoken with Admiral Graham, the transfer will happen if you give permission."

Romelle looks from Coran to Allura, "Transfer?"

Coran sighs, "Maybe it would be best for him Princess, even Sven and Lance can't get him to talk to them. He sits in his room by himself refusing all company. He only came out today to speak with me about his request. Maybe a change of scenery will help."

Allura finishes reading the paper and looks back up at Coran, "The answer is no Coran, I will not allow him to run away from us and hide."

Coran nods and turns to walk away but Allura stops him, "Coran, request Keith to come back to your office but do not tell him I will be there. I wish to speak with him alone." Coran raises his eyebrows at her, but nods and leaves the room.

Romelle looks at Allura, "What are you going to do?"

Allura turns to face Romelle, determination on her features, "Get in his face and stay there."

* * *

Keith knocks on Coran's office door and enters, "Coran…you wished to speak with me?"

Allura stands up from her place at Coran's desk and watches him as she answers, "No Commander, I wanted to speak with you."

She watches Keith visibly stiffen and turn around as if to leave. She speaks stopping him, "Commander…turn back around, there is a chair in front of you, sit on it." giving Keith a direct order.

Keith turns around again, his face full of rage as he gives a mock bow, "As you wish your Highness." He reaches forward with his hand, finds the chair and sits on it. Allura studies him for a moment, her heart aching for him and moves to sit on the edge of the desk in front of Keith looking down at him, "Why do you wish to leave Arus?"

Keith sits there for a moment not speaking before he answers in a low furious voice, "Isn't it obvious? I can no longer be of any use here."

Allura crosses her arms, "No longer of any use…what utter rubbish."

Keith tries and fails to control his temper rising out of his chair, "What would you like me to do Princess? Ask Lotor to stand still so I can try to hit him next time they attack? Or how about flying the lion in the castle since I CAN'T SEE WHERE THE HELL I'M GOING?"

Allura watches him struggle for a moment, "You know more about the conditions of Arus and the command of Voltron than anyone else. You also have more knowledge of military defense than Hunk, Pidge, Lance and Sven have all together. Request denied Commander, you are staying here."

Keith's face turns red as his temper rises, but Allura isn't done yet. "You will no longer hide in your room, tomorrow morning you will resume command of the force on the practice field. You are dismissed."

Allura watches Keith struggle, his fists opening and closing before he gives another mock bow and turns leaving the room. Allura turns around as Sven and Lance move away from the corners of the room they were standing in. Lance sighs, "I sure hope you know what you are doing Princess…for a minute there I thought he was going to lose it entirely."

Allura looks to Sven who nods at her before speaking, "It may be the only thing that works Lance. God knows he wouldn't even speak to the rest of us."

Allura looks from Lance to Sven and sighs, "Get him on the practice field for hand to hand combat training tomorrow morning Sven."

Sven nods at her and Allura turns and leaves the room. Lance looks at Sven, "He may end up hating her…" Sven lowers his chin to his chest and sighs before looking back at Lance, "You would be amazed what the love of a good woman can do for a man's damaged ego." With that comment Sven turns and leaves the room followed by Lance.

* * *

The following morning after breakfast Sven knocks on Keith's door, "Keith are you in there?" Keith opens it coming out in his workout clothes his voice full of mockery, "I take it you are here to lead me down to the practice field as the Princess has commanded?"

Sven smiles, thankful that Keith can't see it and keeps his tone neutral, "That would be my orders yes…"

Keith reaches out and grabs Sven's arm, "Then lead away…"

As Sven and Keith reach the field, Allura and Romelle are working with Lance and Hunk. Allura is attempting to punch and kick Hunk while Romelle is swinging at Lance. Pidge is sitting on the side lines enjoying the show.

Lance laughs, "Come on Romelle, is that the best you can do?" as he blocks her attempt to kick him.

Sven laughs as he nudges Keith in the side, "He's going to be sorry…"

Romelle gets a hold of Lance's arm and tosses him over her shoulder. Lance lands with a thud just in front of Sven and Keith. He groans while lying on his back, "Sven…what have you been teaching her?"

Keith says nothing as Sven helps Lance to his feet, "Only how to kick your butt…"

Allura approaches them, "Good morning Keith."

Keith performs a slight bow, "Princess Allura…I'm yours to command."

Allura narrows her eyes at his tone of voice as Sven and Lance look at each other before looking back at Keith and then Allura. Allura winks at them and then in a sweet voice, "Why Commander, here on the practice field I'm just one of your subordinates awaiting your commands to begin our standard practice."

Keith snorts as Lance and Sven try not to laugh. Further back Hunk and Pidge are watching the exchange with open mouths. Romelle is watching Allura with raised eyebrows. Allura waits a moment longer before, "We are waiting Commander…"

Keith stands there a moment longer before he gives in, "Fine, get into lines and begin the warm up drill."

The team plus Romelle gets into line and begins the drill of punches, kicks and stretches to warm up. After 10 minutes Keith orders, "Ok, pair up, mock combat."

Keith stays to the outside and listens to the sounds of the pairs fighting, _Hunk and Pidge are paired off…_ He continues to listen as Lance makes rude comments to Sven about slowing down, _so that must mean the women paired off together. _Keith moves in the direction of the area he can hear the sounds of Allura and Romelle.

Romelle laughs at Allura, "Is that the best you can punch? Bandor can hit me harder than that." Romelle spots Keith moving toward them, "Keith…I think your "subordinate" here needs more lessons."

Allura watches the emotions running across Keith's face before he speaks, "Just protect your throat Romelle…" Romelle's eyes grow huge as she looks at Allura who is visibly angry. He turns to walk away as Allura walks up to him, "Fine then master of the punch teach me."

Keith ignores her and continues to walk away. Allura walks up behind him and kicks him in the butt. Keith whips around, "Knock it off Allura." Allura circles him and hits him in the arm, "Stop me then."

Keith pulls away from her and turns red in the face, "I didn't know you could be such a bitch Allura."

Romelle gasps as Allura moves toward Keith again, "And I didn't know you were such a self pitying bastard."

Keith turns away again, "LANCE…get me out of here and back up to the castle NOW!"

Allura turns to the group and gives her own order, "Everyone leave now."

Hunk and Pidge are standing there with their mouths wide open. Sven and Lance look at Allura, Lance moves forward, "But Princess…"

Allura shakes her head at them, "Leave now!"

Keith moves toward the sounds of the leaving people, "LANCE…get your ass back here!"

Allura walks up behind him again and shoves him in the back causing Keith to stumble forward. He turns around quickly swinging an arm out that Allura easily avoids. "Come on Keith, you can do better than that…" She circles around him and Keith is moving along to the sounds of her footsteps trying to see her movements with his limited vision.

From further afield Sven, Lance and Romelle turn back to watch. Lance shakes his head, "What the hell is she trying to do…"

Sven looks at Lance, "Piss him off and from the looks of it, she is doing a wonderful job."

Lance watches a moment longer as Allura avoids Keith's grabbing arms again and manages to hit him in the chest before backing off. Lance looks at Sven like he is crazy, "She is playing with a wounded bear…he may do something to her."

Sven smiles at him, "No, if you watch he is only trying to grab her. If he wanted to hurt her he would be kicking and punching at her."

Romelle shakes her head at both of them, "Let's go…Allura didn't want an audience."

The trio turns and head back up to the castle. Back on the field Allura swings a leg around and knocks Keith off his feet. As he lands on his butt Allura steps back, "Come on Keith…you are letting a girl beat you."

Keith gets back up pissed; he listens to her steps and finally sees the shadow of her form against the sun. He then lunges forward and manages to tackle Allura to the ground landing on top of her and pinning her down, "What the hell do you think you are doing?"

Allura shifts her legs so that Keith ends up between them; "Trying to get your attention…" she then uses her hand to pull Keith's head down to hers and kisses him on the lips. Shocked Keith lets her kiss him for a moment before pulling his head up away from her and tries to push away with his arms, "NO! I don't want your pity."

Keith tries to get away from her but Allura has wrapped her legs around Keith pinning him to her. Allura grabs his face, "Pity you…Keith have some pity on me. I've been trying for months to get your attention and you ignore me." She caresses his check with one hand, moves the other into his hair and leans forward as she whispers against his lips, "Please Keith…don't push me away…" pressing her lips to his. Keith briefly stiffens before settling his weight on her and grabs Allura's head as he deepens the kiss. Allura runs her legs down along Keith's settling him more between her legs and moves one hand along his side and caresses his back. Keith can feel Allura's breasts move against his chest as she lifts her body up against his; he groans against her mouth as he feels himself harden.

Reality sinks in as he hears someone approaching and he pushes away from Allura before she can stop him and rolls away jumping to his feet. Allura sits up as Coran approaches, "Princess…what do you think you are doing?"

Allura looks away from a visibly upset Coran and looks at Keith who has turned away from both of them. "Allura, I demand an explanation for your behavior."

Allura looks back to Coran, "I don't owe you any explanations Coran." She gets to her feet slowly adjusting her clothing. She looks to Keith who is still silent and turned away. She then turns her gaze back to Coran, "Coran we will speak in your office in an hour, escort Keith back up to the castle please." She then turns and walks away from both of them.

Coran chokes on his reply and then looks to Keith who is breathing heavy and is still turned away from him. He studies his profile, notices how upset he looks and sighs, "I don't blame you for this Commander, come I'll get you back up to the castle."

Coran takes Keith's arm and guides him up to the castle. As they get inside Keith finally speaks, "I can find my way now Coran, thanks." He turns and walks away, just before his bedroom he hears a door opening and hears Lance, "Keith…are you ok?"

Keith approaches Lance, his rage boiling again and punches forward and is gratified to feel his knuckles hit Lance's jaw. He can hear Lance groan as he falls to the ground as Keith finds the door to his room and enters it.

* * *

more coming soon...


	2. Chapter 2

Second part to the story, all disclaimers apply I claim no ownership of Voltron or it's characters.

Let me know what you think... Enjoy!

* * *

Allura had gone to her room to bathe and change clothes before going back to Coran's office. She knocked on his door and entered. Coran was standing up behind his desk, "Princess Allura…"

Allura holds up her hand to stop him before he begins, "Coran, this is not a discussion, nor am I here to ask for permission. I love Keith and have decided to be with him."

Coran watches her, her chin is held high with pride, her eyes piercing, "Allura…I have watched over you since you were a child. You are a Princess of Arus; you cannot just grab onto some man and kiss him as you did Commander Keith."

Allura says nothing and continues to stare at Coran. Coran sighs, "Allura, are you sure this is something Keith would want? He said nothing to defend you or himself this morning. He actually seemed quite upset by the event. Are you sure you are not just feeling sorry for the Commander?"

Allura's lips purse together as her anger builds, "Coran, as I said, I am not here to defend myself to you or ask your permission. I am asking you not to interfere."

Coran watches her and then nods, "Very well. But you had best remember that as Princess you need to choose your husband with care. If Keith is the man you wish to spend your life with I will not interfere. However you had best make sure he is willing to stay and be King before you get in too deep and make a mistake you will not be able to correct which could cause you to lose him forever."

Allura drops her eyes for a moment before looking back up at Coran. She nods and then turns and leaves the room.

* * *

Keith is sitting on the bed in his room still fuming…_Why the hell did she kiss me?_ After his return to his room he had taken a cold shower and had laid down trying to forget the smell of her, the feel…he had sat back up when his body had started to react to his memory.

Unable to settle down he had been doing sit ups and pushups trying to expend his energy. He thought about going down to the gym to work out but didn't want to be near anybody or have them asking him questions. He had quit the pushups but after an hour of pacing he had finally sat back down on his bed, his mind still racing.

A small hysterical laugh escapes him…_Why the hell did I kiss her back?_ He stands up and walks to the nearest wall and hits his head against it as he hears a knock on the door. He turns around and before he can say "Enter" the door opens and Nanny walks into the room carrying a tray.

Nanny looks him over and notices the red mark on his forehead but decides not to say anything about it, "Captain, I have brought you your lunch." She moves toward his desk and sets the tray down. She looks back to him, "I have been asked to pass on a message."

Keith sighs and then nods thinking…_Nanny can't know about this morning or she would be throwing that tray at my head._

Nanny moves forward and takes his hand, "I have been instructed to inform you that you will join the others in the dining room tonight for dinner. I am not allowed to bring any more meals to your room for you."

Whatever Keith had been expecting it wasn't that and it must have shown on his face as Nanny continues, "You cannot hide from your friends forever Captain and I am afraid I have been helping you do that by bringing your meals to you. So tonight Princess Allura has ordered you to appear at dinner." She pats his hand again and exits the room.

Keith closes his eyes and turns around and hits his head against the wall again.



* * *

Dinner time rolls around and Keith hears a knock at his door, he sighs as he moves toward it and opens the door. "Evening Captain…" Pidge's voice sounds a bit apprehensive.

Keith gives a mirthless laugh as he returns the greeting, "So they sent you to make sure I make it down to dinner?"

Pidge coughs, "Well…actually Lance was supposed to do it, but he was afraid you would punch him again if he knocked on the door."

Keith tries but fails to keep the smile off his face and in a mocking tone, "I don't know why he would be afraid of that…"

Pidge coughs again, "Well if you are ready…"

Keith shakes his head and sighs, "I don't need an escort Pidge. I do know how to find the dining room." He turns and heads down the hall with Pidge following. Upon entering the dining room Romelle approaches Keith, "Good evening Keith, let me show you to your seat."

Romelle takes Keith's elbow and leads him around the table and leaves his hand on the back of his chair as she moves away to take her seat and Pidge does the same. Keith sits down as he hears the door to the kitchens open and the maids bringing out the dishes.

Conversation around the table begins as he feels someone brush against him placing a plate in front of him, "Here you go Captain." Nanny pats his shoulder as she walks away.

Keith sits there for a moment and then hears Sven's low voice as he leans toward him, "Keith, your potatoes are at 10 o'clock, carrots at 1, cut up steak at 4 and dinner roll at 7."

Keith nods and replies in a low tone, "Nice job having Romelle showing me to my seat…afraid I would take your head off?"

He hears Sven's low chuckle, "After admiring the bruise on Lance's jaw this afternoon do you blame me?"

Keith reaches forward and takes his dinner roll as a scent of perfume reaches his nose. _You have got to be kidding me…_ He turns toward the scent coming from the other side of his seat, "Good evening Princess…"

Allura turns toward him a bit surprised since she hadn't spoken to him yet and studies his face briefly, "Good evening Keith; thanks for joining us."

Keith gives a half laugh, half snort shaking his head and deciding not to get into a fight as he turns back toward his plate and ignores everyone.

As dinner concludes most of the team has left for the rec room leaving behind Sven, Romelle, Allura and Keith. Romelle takes Sven's arm and turns toward Keith, "Are you going to join us in the rec room this evening Keith?"

Keith sees no need to be rude to Romelle so answers politely, "No thanks Romelle. Have a good evening." Romelle looks over to Allura with raised eyebrows and Allura shakes her head at her, "I'll be along in a moment Romelle. I wish to have a word with Keith."

Sven smiles at both ladies and then seeing the look on Keith's face decides to depart quickly. "Have a good night Keith." Without waiting for an answer he then quickly turns Romelle around and leaves the room.

Allura turns in her seat toward Keith who has been silent all evening. "Are you quite finished behaving like an ass to your friends?"

Keith snorts and turns his face upward as if looking for help, but does not answer her. He finally gets up out of his seat and keeps his hand on the back of the chairs moving around the table and heads toward the door.

Allura gets out of her seat and moves quickly toward Keith grabbing his arm to stop him, "Do not think you can get out of this conversation by just leaving…"

Keith pulls away from her and as she looks into his face she can see his anger, "Is that another order Princess? You know I think I have had enough of your orders for one day." He turns away from her intending to leave.

Allura sighs, "We are all worried about you Keith. Why do you have to push us away?"

Keith stops and she can see him drop his head down, "I just want to be left alone Princess. I don't want help and I sure as hell don't want anyone's pity."

Allura moves up behind him and places her hand on the back of his shoulder feeling him stiffen, "Everyone needs help once in a while Keith. Letting your friends help you isn't pity. Don't you know how much they miss you?"

Keith sighs and drops his head back looking upward again. Allura moves around him and places her hand on his cheek as he faces her. "Don't you know how much I miss you?" She moves forward and places her cheek on his shoulder.

Keith puts his hands on her shoulders and pushes her away as he steps back, "Allura…please don't."

Allura sighs in frustration, "Fine, at least come to the rec room tonight and quit acting like a bear. Everyone is constantly walking on eggshells around you and I am quite sick of it."

Keith stands there a moment his emotions running across his face, "Is that another order Princess?"

Allura watches him for a moment, "No…that is a request Keith. Spend some time with us, please."

Keith sighs, "Fine…" He holds his elbow out for her to take and leads her out of the dining room.

Keith leads her down the hall, neither speaking and as they approach the door to the rec room Keith lets go of Allura's arm and performs a small bow, "Ladies first…" Thanks to his lack of sight Keith misses Allura rolling her eyes at him but moves ahead of him to the door. As Allura presses the button to open the door and steps forward to go through it Romelle comes barreling out the door and runs into Allura who then falls backward into Keith with all three landing on the floor, the ladies on top of Keith, Allura in his lap.

Sven leans against the doorway of the rec room and laughs, "Keith you are the only man I know who can end up with two beautiful women in his lap without trying." Romelle glares at Sven as she rolls off onto her butt; Sven laughing some more bends down to help her back onto her feet.

Allura is quite aware of the change in Keith's body as he grabs her waist and lifts her up off his lap. Allura sighs as she takes the hand Sven holds out to her and gets her feet back underneath her. She moves aside shaking out her skirt, trying to get rid of her red cheeks as Sven helps Keith back onto his feet as well.

Keith bends over a bit after getting back on his feet holding his stomach. Sven studies him, "Are you ok?" Keith grimaces in pain as he tries to stand up straight, between the hard on, his aching stomach and his sore butt; he isn't sure what hurts worse. "Having two women land on you isn't as much fun as you think."

Allura finally looks up at him in concern, "What's wrong?"

Keith shakes his head at her, "Your elbow found my stomach on the way down. Let me get in and sit down, I'll be fine in a moment."

Romelle watches him move through the doorway with concern, "Keith I am so sorry, are you sure you're ok?"

Keith waves her away, "Don't worry about it Princess."

Lance, Pidge and Hunk watch Keith with concern as he makes his way to the end of the couch sitting down holding his stomach. Allura moves over to him, "Are you sure you're ok?"

Keith nods toward her, not speaking. Allura continues to watch him for a moment and then sits down beside him. Romelle sits beside Allura, Sven at her side. Lance watches the group, "So Sven…what happened to the spanking you promised to Romelle?"

Sven laughs as Romelle glares at Lance, "I think Keith just took it for me…"

At that comment Keith actually laughs a real laugh, "The sad thing about that statement is that it's true…"

Lance chuckles and Keith continues, "So what's up for tonight's entertainment, besides me landing on my ass?"

Lance laughs some more, "How about a comedy routine I just received from Earth? It's some 21st century comedian who uses puppets in his routine."

Keith raises his eyebrows but nods, "Why not…it can't be any worse than my entertainment."

Lance pops in the show and lowers the lights sitting down beside Sven and Hunk. As the show continues everyone in the room is laughing. Keith grows uncomfortable again at his body's response to Allura's laughter and he shifts around a bit. Allura notices and leans toward him, "Are you sure you're ok?"

Keith sighs and nods. Allura looks down and slides her hand along his forearm and intertwines her fingers with his. Keith shakes his head slightly while lightly blowing air out of his mouth. He tries to lift his arm away from Allura who tightens her hold on his fingers. Keith gives up not wanting to create a scene but keeps his hand relaxed. As the movie ends Keith stands up forcing Allura to let go of his hand. "I think I am going to call it a night."

He bids the group good night but as he heads toward the door he stops as he hears Allura's voice. "I think I will as well, mind walking me to my room?"

Before Keith can reply she bids the group good night as she takes his arm and starts walking forcing him to walk with her. She leads him out of the room and down the hallway toward the bedrooms. Keith tries to gently pull his arm away from her but Allura once again tightens her grip.

As they approach Keith's room Allura stops and turns toward Keith forcing him to stop as well. "Are you sure you're ok?" Keith sighs, "Princess I'm fine, I'm just tired and would like to go to sleep." He starts to turn away but Allura leans forward and as she cups his cheek in her hand she kisses Keith.

She pulls back almost as quickly as she leaned forward not giving Keith a chance to pull away from her and whispers, "Good night then, no need to walk me to my room." She then turns and walks away from Keith.

Keith stands there a moment shaken and then goes into his room and turns around and hits his head on the closed door.

* * *

The next two days follow a similar pattern with Allura finding Keith at different intervals and as he saw it, harassing him. Each time he would ask her to leave him alone and she would either just touch his face and walk away or lean in for a quick kiss and tell him to get over it. At night he can't seem to relax or settle his mind down enough to sleep so has been wandering the halls hoping to exhaust himself enough to fall asleep.

About to go completely out of his mind Keith decides he needs to talk to someone and the only person he knows of who has gone through anything similar is Sven. Keith goes to Sven's room and enters it waiting for him to return from lion practice.

Sven walks into his room deciding to grab a shower and change when he spots Keith standing by the window appearing to look out of it. He moves forward into the room, "Keith…what's wrong?"

Keith turns to face him and Sven is surprised by how exhausted and upset he looks. Before Keith can say anything the door opens again as Romelle enters the room. Sven turns around quickly, "Romelle, can you give us a few minutes?"

Romelle looks to Sven and then sees Keith who had quickly turn around again facing the window. Giving Sven an inquisitive look which Sven shakes his head at Romelle finally nods and turns around exiting the room.

Sven turns back toward Keith and moves toward him and grabbing his shoulder getting Keith to turn around again, "What's wrong?"

Breathing heavily Keith drops his head to his chest and whispers, "I'm going out of my mind…"

Sven moves back and studies Keith, "Well…if that is the only problem you have…"

Keith finally laughs, "I wish it was…Allura is driving me crazy."

Sven makes a noise of acknowledgement, "Yes I've noticed she has an interesting effect on you."

Keith closes his eyes and shakes his head before sinking to the floor against the window. Sven sits down on the floor in front of him and waits. Keith finally looks back up, "Ever since the accident she has decided that she wants me for lack of a better word. I've asked her repeatedly to leave me alone, that I don't want her pity, but she won't listen to me and she won't allow me to transfer off Arus. I don't know what to do anymore." He moves his head back against the glass shutting his eyes again.

Sven sighs while studying his friend, "Well, that is because she is in love with you Keith…has been for quite a while according to Romelle."

Keith brings his head back down and faces Sven, "What exactly do you know about this?" his tone a bit dangerous.

Sven slides back a bit, "Now Keith, before you explode allow me to state quite clearly that when the girls asked for my help I declined knowing how you feel about your private life."

Keith sits there silently, his eyebrow lifted waiting for Sven to continue. Sven sighs a bit, "Romelle had apparently caught onto Allura's feelings for you and between the two of them it was decided that Allura was going to have to take charge of the situation and go after you if she wanted you. Apparently she has decided to go after you…"

Keith snorts and answers his tone snide, "You think…" he sighs and then in a low tone, "You couldn't have at least warned me Sven?"

Sven chuckles, "Romelle made it worth my while to keep my mouth shut. While I wouldn't help them I couldn't help you either."

Keith snorts again, "Great…"

Sven chuckles again and then stops, "She does love you Keith; it isn't pity."

Keith shakes his head and then, "How would you know that?"

Sven smiles, "Being loved by a good woman myself I have learned to see the signs. Keith, if there is something that Romelle has taught me it is that loving a woman doesn't make you weak, it makes you stronger."

Keith sighs, "I don't know what to think or feel right now."

Sven moves forward and pats Keith on the knee, "Let her in Keith, you might surprise yourself.

* * *

Allura closely watches Keith at dinner that night. She had left him alone today after hearing from Romelle that Keith had gone to Sven to talk, but she doesn't like the way he looks. _I hope he isn't getting sick…_

When Keith declines going to the rec room after dinner nobody objects, everyone can see he looks exhausted. Allura follows him from the dining room staying way behind him and watches him go into his bedroom before she continues on to the rec room.

Late in the evening as Allura lays in bed she is awoken by a ring on her communicator. She picks up the communicator as she sits up in bed, "Yes?"

"Princess Allura, this is Tom, the head of the Palace guard, you asked to be informed if we have seen Commander Keith wandering the halls at night. He is currently standing on the 3rd floor balcony to the west side."

Allura sighs, "Thanks Tom, Allura out." She gets up and puts on her bathrobe and leaves her room heading for the balcony. She opens the door to the balcony and sure enough Keith is standing beside the railing. "Keith, what are you doing?"

Keith stiffens his tone angry, "Leave me alone Princess."

Allura approaches him and touches his shoulder and he pulls away, "Keith, when is the last time you actually slept?"

Keith turns to face her, his face full of rage, "So are Lance and Sven telling tales again?"

Allura gets angry and snaps back at him, "No Keith, this is my castle and you would be amazed by the fact that I know what happens in it, including the fact that you have spent the last 3 nights wandering around instead of sleeping. Lance and Sven have said nothing; the palace guards have reported it to me."

Keith turns away from her, "I want to be left alone Princess."

Allura sighs and moves up behind him touching his shoulders and leaning her forehead against his back, "Why do you still push me away Keith when all I want to do is love you?"

Keith sighs as his anger drains away from him but he doesn't pull away from her, "Allura I don't know what to think right now."

Allura moves in front of him and touches his cheek studying his face, "Is that why you haven't been sleeping?"

Keith stands still and silent for a moment and then decides to confide in her, "Not just that…I'm a pilot Allura, right now I can't fly and I don't know if I ever will be able to again. Out of the blue you tell me you love me and all of it is just too much…" He turns sideways away from her, but doesn't step back.

Allura touches his shoulder and moves her hand down his arm, "What do you want from me Keith?"

Keith turns back toward her pleading, "Give me some time to think without ambushing me everywhere I go. I can't even wrap my mind around this…and with you constantly pushing me…" he stops breathing deeply.

Allura moves forward and wraps her arms around him hugging him for a moment before she steps back, "I will give you the time you need to think Keith if you promise not to shut me out. Why don't you go back to your room and try to sleep."

Keith sighs shaking his head, "I don't think that will work…every time I lay down my mind races."

Allura watches him for a moment and then takes his hand and pulls him along, "Come on Keith…"

Keith allows her to guide him down the halls and she brings him into his room. Keith stops, "Allura what do you think you are doing?"

Allura touches his cheek, "Trust me Keith…" She pushes him down on his bed and pulls his boots off of him, "Lay down Keith…" Keith thinks about arguing but lies back anyway and turns on his side away from her. Allura lies down in the bed beside him wrapping her arm around his waist spooning him. She kisses the back of his neck and then, "Close your eyes Keith…"

Keith lays there for a few moments thinking _Like I am going to fall asleep with her body pressed behind me…_ but does as bidden and within minutes falls asleep. Allura stays with him, sleeping for a while till she wakes and looks back at the clock realizing it was 5:30AM, she sighs _I have to get back to my room before Nanny gets up… _she eases out of the bed, pausing briefly checking to make sure she didn't wake Keith before she puts her robe back on and leaves the room.

Keith awakens several hours later when he hears a knock on his door, "Yes…"

Nanny greets him as she enters, "Good morning Commander, Princess Allura requested that I bring you breakfast when you didn't show up at the dining room this morning."

Keith yawns and gets up sitting on the side of the bed, "Nanny…what time is it?"

Nanny consults the clock, "Why it is 9:30 Commander, are you ok? You normally don't sleep this late."

Keith blinks the sleep out of his eyes _I never sleep this late…_ "I'm fine Nanny, it just took me a while to fall asleep last night and I must have been exhausted."

* * *

Later Allura finds Keith at the balcony again, "Good morning Keith." She moves up beside him but doesn't touch him.

Keith replies his tone neutral, "Morning Princess."

Allura turns toward him and studies him, "Are you ok?"

Keith turns and smiles at her, "I'm fine thanks to several hours of sleep."

Allura turns back toward the railing studying the countryside without speaking. Keith moves closer toward her, reaches out and touches her shoulder following her arm down till he finds her hand and takes it within his, "Thank you Allura."

Allura smiles at their hands, "You are welcome Keith. If you wish to be alone I can leave."

Keith grips her hand for a moment longer and then releases it before turning back to the railing, "No, actually I was going to ask you something…"

Allura pauses slightly surprised, "What?"

Keith sighs still turned away, "Dr. Jules asked me to come down to his office when I have a moment, would you like to go with me?"

Allura touches his arm and softly answers, "Of course I would."

* * *

Allura leads Keith to Dr. Jules' office and she knocks on the door. They are bid enter and Dr. Jules asks them to have a seat. Also in the room is Dr. Gorma and up on the video prompter is a man Allura has never seen before.

Dr. Jules begins, "Princess Allura, Commander Keith, may I introduce Dr. Franden. He has news regarding the options to repair your eyes Commander."

Allura turns toward the video prompter and Dr. Franden greets them, "Good news Commander; we believe we should be able to reverse the damage to your retinas. We have a procedure where we introduce some enzymes into the eyes that will regenerate the tissue of the retina. This procedure has had an 89 success rate so we see no reason why it wouldn't work for you. The problem is that first you will need to go through another surgery to remove the scar tissue that has built up and then the enzymes will be introduced over a 3 week period. The most difficult thing Commander will be the fact that you will need to stay in bed that entire 3 weeks with extremely limited movement. We will need you to stay as still as possible."

Keith nods, unable to speak for a moment, "So I should get my vision back, but how good will it be?"

Allura reaches over to grab his hand and he squeezes it as Dr. Franden answers, "Good enough to pilot your ship Commander."

Allura smiles and squeezes Keith's hand again as Dr. Franden continues, "My staff and I will arrive on Arus in 1 weeks time to begin the procedure. Dr. Franden out." And the video prompt goes black.

Dr. Jules and Gorma smile at the pair as they get up and leave the office. Keith gets out into the waiting room and picks Allura up by her waist and swings her around before pulling her toward him for a hug. Allura laughs and then places her palm on his cheek, "One problem down…"

Keith's smile drops as he sets her away from him, "Give me more time to think Allura…"

Allura smiles and leans forward and kisses him, "I'll give you all the time you need Keith and that is the last time I will kiss you. If you want me, you will have to be the one to kiss me next. Come on, let's go tell the rest of the team the good news!" She grabs his arm and leads him out of the waiting room.

Later in the rec room everyone is laughing and enjoying the news. Lance couldn't help but laugh and add, "Good luck Keith on sitting still for 3 weeks. Did you ask the doctor to drug you during that time?"

Keith laughs, "It will be worth it Lance, I will be able to see your face the next time I need to punch you."

Everyone else in the room laughs as Lance cringes.

* * *

Four days later Allura is getting ready to leave for a visitation with the local village as she stops by the rec room finding Keith sitting relaxing. "Keith…would you like to accompany me on my visitation today?"

Keith turns his head toward the sound of her voice, "Who is going with you?"

Allura moves into the room and sits across from him, "Sven and Romelle and I'm hoping you…"

Keith sighs, "I really don't want to go out yet Allura…but I would feel better if you would take Lance with you as well."

Allura smiles even though she is disappointed as she gets up, "Ok Keith, I'll see you later…"

The afternoon wears on as Allura visits with her people and she and Romelle decide to walk toward the lake near the woods to cool off while the guys get the horses ready to return. Romelle sees movement from the corner of her eye and turns to see Lotor moving quickly toward them, "Allura!! Run!!"

Allura turns around but before she can get very far Lotor catches up with them and grabs her from behind while backhanding Romelle. Pulling out his laser sword Lotor holds it to Allura's neck as Sven and Lance run up to them holding their guns. Lance yells, "Let her go you bastard!"

Lotor backs up toward the woods pulling Allura along with him as Sven reaches Romelle and helps her to her feet as he pushes her behind him his gun is still trained on Lotor. Lotor replies back, "Get back…she is mine now."

From behind Lotor the sound of a mechanical scream can be heard as Lotor's robeast moves within the area. Using the distraction Allura snaps her head backward breaking Lotor's nose and elbows him in the side pulling away. "YOU BITCH!" Lotor backhands Allura who falls sideways hitting her forehead on a rock and doesn't move. Lance and Sven take the opportunity to fire the laser guns at Lotor forcing him to turn and run back into the woods.

Romelle runs past Sven and to Allura sitting beside her, "Allura…can you hear me?" She turns her over to discover the cut and bruise forming along Allura's forehead. "SVEN! She's hurt!"

Lance bends down and picks Allura up as they hear the scream from the robeast again, "Sven…we have to hurry back to the castle and get the lions."

Sven pulls Romelle up from the ground, "Let's go!" They run for the horses and Lance hands Allura up to Sven as they hurry to ride off toward the castle.

They gallop as fast as they can but they hear the footsteps of the robeast coming up behind them. Romelle looks back and lets out a scream of terror as she sees the robeast getting ready to fire a missile in their direction. Suddenly the green and yellow lions appear firing proton missiles at the robeast forcing it back. They hear Pidge's voice projecting down, "Hurry up guys, we are going to need some help out here."

The horses race across the draw bridge as Doom attack craft fire upon them. The castle returns fire blowing several of the craft out of the sky as the horses race into the castle. Sven hands Allura down to the castle guard yelling at him to get her to MedTech as he and Lance race off for castle control and the lions with Romelle following them.

Entering castle control Coran yells, "Hurry…Hunk and Pidge can't hold off that robeast..." before noticing Allura wasn't with them, "Where is Princess Allura?" Sven looks to Romelle who nods and then he and Lance race off entering their tubes to get to their lions.

Keith who was standing near Coran turns around, "Allura…"

Romelle moves up to them as Coran lowers the launch bay, "Lotor attacked us and she fell and hit her head and was knocked unconcious. She is in MedTech now." Keith turns and runs out of castle control and Romelle takes his place beside Coran watching as Lance and Sven join the fight getting Pidge out of cornered position.

Keith enters MedTech and enters the room he hears noise coming from, "Dr. Gorma!! Where's the princess?"

Dr. Gorma motions a nurse to bring Keith forward, "She was knocked out Commander, but I think she will be fine. When she wakes up we will ascertain whether she has a concussion." Keith sits down on the bed beside Allura and finds her hand and holds it tightly between both of his.

Back in castle control Romelle gasps as she watches the battle going badly, Pidge and Hunk's lions are being held down by the robeast and Sven crashed as a missile hits the black lion knocking it out of the sky.

Romelle cries, "We need blue lion now!" Coran shakes his head, "Unless Princess Allura has awaken I don't know what we will do." Romelle turns and runs out of the room toward MedTech. Entering MedTech she spies Keith sitting next to Allura who is still unconscious.

She grabs his shoulder, "Keith…we need you now! We need to get blue lion up in the air or they will all be killed."

Keith turns toward Romelle, "How??"

Romelle pulls him up onto his feet and pulls him along the hallways toward castle control, "I can't fly the lion Keith, I don't know how…but you do." They get into castle control and Keith pulls back on Romelle's hand, "Small vision problem Romelle…" Romelle faces Keith, "I'll be your eyes Keith…you fly the lion!"

Keith shakes his head as they hear Coran, "Princess Romelle what are you saying?"

Romelle grabs his shoulder, "Please Keith…they will die otherwise!"

He wipes his face with his hand and finally nods as Coran raises the launch tubes again, Romelle leads Keith to blue lion's launch tube and Keith moves to grab the handle, "Hang on tight Romelle." Romelle wraps her arms around his neck and they go down the launch tube.

They enter the lion and Romelle moves from Keith's lap to stand behind him hanging onto the back of the chair. He sighs, "Here we go, hang on tight back there Romelle." He inserts the key and blasts off heading straight up out of the water of the lake surrounding the castle.

Romelle watches the view finder, "Turn toward 10 o'clock the robeast is 2 miles in front of us."

Keith kicks in the afterburners and heads toward the robeast. Romelle watches, "Keith, the robeast has black and red lions by the heads and its feet are standing on green and yellow lions."

Keith takes a deep breath, "I need to fire proton missiles to knock it off its feet, tell me when I'm on target." Romelle watches closely, "Turn 2 degrees left; up 5 degrees…you're dead on fire!" Keith fires the missiles and hits the robeast dead center knocking it off its feet and the lions get away.

Over the telcom they hear Lance's voice, "Great timing Princess!"

Keith answers, "Wrong again Lance…"

Hunk's incredulous voice is next, "How are you flying?"

Romelle answers, "I'm his eyes guys, so don't expect his timing to be perfect..." and then "Keith look out!!"

The robeast had gotten to its feet and had fired missiles at blue lion and before Keith could react they are hit in the side and the lion crashes to the ground. Sven can be heard yelling, "Protect blue lion…"

Keith sits back up in the chair and activates the controls to move the lion from its current position, "Romelle…are you alright?" No answer, "ROMELLE!!"

Keith activates his telcom, "Guys…I've lost Romelle she must have been knocked out when I crashed…we need to form Voltron. I'm going to fly straight up, complete the formation around me."

Keith flies straight up in the air and can hear Sven's voice going through the directions for the forming of Voltron. Once he feels the leg attach he telecoms, "Sven, take control of blue, I'm going to check on Romelle."

He gets out of his chair and kneels on the floor feeling his way to Romelle's motionless body. He pulls her toward him checking her pulse and then removing his gloves to feel along her head and neck. Keith braces himself hanging onto Romelle as he feels the lion's position shift during the battle. As the lion stabilizes again he finds a lump on the back of her head and can feel some stickiness from the blood.

Over the telecom he hears, "Form blazing sword…"

Keith picks up Romelle and quickly sits back down in his seat placing Romelle in front of him sitting on his lap her head rolling back onto his shoulder. He hits the button for the seat harness pulling it down across them as the lion shifts again. Sven's voice can be heard, "Hang on everyone here we go…"

Keith can feel Voltron shake as they pierce through the robeast and then the vibration from the explosion behind them. Over the telecom he can hear Sven's voice, "Keith…is Romelle ok?"

Keith hits the button to open his mic, "She is still out cold Sven with a lump on the back of her head, but I have a hold of her so she won't be further injured."

He can hear Sven's sigh, "Ok, we are detaching; Lance and I will grab blue lion and escort you to the ground."

After feeling the lion land, Keith removes the harness and picks Romelle up as he stands and presses the button to open the side hatch. He lowers them to the ground as he hears footsteps approaching and Sven's voice, "Romelle…" Keith lets go of her as Sven takes Romelle out of his arms and he hears her moan as Sven departs.

He hears Lance approach, "Are you ok?"

Keith nods, "Yes, I managed to stay in my seat. Let's get into MedTech."

He feels Lance take his arm and escorts him into the castle.

* * *

They enter MedTech and Lance sees Sven pacing the waiting room with Hunk, Pidge and Coran seated. Coran stands, "Keith…you made it out uninjured?"

Keith sighs, "Yes, the chair protected me. Romelle had nothing to hang on to and was thrown back. Has the doctor said anything yet?"

Sven snarls, "Not yet…"

Keith raises his eyebrows at Sven, "I take it by the tone of your voice you would like to take a swing at me?"

Sven snorts and continues his pacing, "I would but I know whose idea it was…"

Lance tries not to smiles, thankful that for once he isn't the one being snarled at. Coran shakes his head and sits back down as Lance tries to guide Keith toward the seats. Keith pulls back, "Coran, has the princess woken?"

Coran sighs, "Yes, she does have a slight concussion and a headache. Nanny is with her threatening her if she tries to get out of the bed."

The door opens and Dr. Gorma steps out to face Sven, "Princess Romelle will be fine, she is awake and we have placed her in the same room with Princess Allura, both have headaches and slight concussions. We will monitor them overnight but I see no reason not to release them in the morning."

Sven lets out a breath of relief, "May I see her?"

Dr. Gorma steps aside, "Of course, just limit the visit for now as they will need to rest. Nanny is watching over both of them."

Keith laughs as he hears Sven's voice, "God help them…"

* * *

Three days later the crew from planet Terrell arrives and Keith is being examined by Dr. Franden before the procedure is set to begin in the morning, "Ok Commander, everything looks good. I am keeping you overnight as we will bring you into surgery early in the morning."

Keith nods and thanks the doctor and takes the hospital clothes from the nurse to change into as Sven walks into the room. "How did it go?"

Keith grimaces, "Surgery in the morning to remove the scar tissue and three weeks of torture staying in this bed. While I can't wait to get my vision back I don't know how I'm going to stay still for three weeks."

Sven gets a teasing tone, "I could send Allura in to sit on you…"

Keith groans, "Don't even go there…"

Sven chuckles, "So what have you decided there…I heard it through the grape vine that you were being given time to think about it…"

Keith snorts, "Do I need to find more work for you guys to do?"

Sven chuckles, "You can't make me do it while you are stuck here for three weeks and by the time you have your vision back I will be leaving with Romelle to return to planet Pollux so you might as well not even threaten me."

Keith shakes his head at him and moves back to the bed. Sven studies him and in a serious tone, "So what are you going to do there?"

Keith notes the change in tone, "Truth is I don't know yet. There has been too much going on for me to seriously consider anything."

Sven gets angry, "Keith…I know you…you are going to be pig headed and give up a chance to be happy aren't you? And for what…Galaxy Garrison and the Alliance?"

Shocked by his tone of voice Keith holds his hands up as if in surrender, "I haven't decided anything yet Sven. I can't deny I'm attracted to Allura…but there is a lot to consider…"

Sven snorts, "No, the only thing you need to consider is if you can love her as much as she loves you. Everything else is bullshit." He moves forward and grabs Keith by the shoulders, "Let me tell you from experience Keith, someone like Romelle for me and Allura for you only comes along once in a lifetime, don't throw your chance away as you consider your "options"."

Sven turns around and leaves the room leaving Keith sitting there stunned.

* * *

The next three weeks passed by at a snail's pace for Keith. Everyone has come and gone at different times trying to keep him company but the boredom made him a bit irritable. Sven had come back a couple of days later and had apologized for his behavior which Keith had waved off. How could he stay mad at a friend who only had his best interests at heart?

He smiles to himself, if it wasn't for Allura's visits he probably would have bounced off the walls. She has been kind enough to bring a couple of his books and read them to him. Anyone else doing that would have had him grabbing the books and throwing them at their head but Allura's voice was calming to listen to. True to her word she hadn't pressed him for a decision which he still hadn't made.

He sighs…_thank God these bandages are coming off and I get to leave this room at last…_

He was sitting on the edge of the exam table waiting for the doctor to come into the room. Everyone had wanted to be here with him but he had asked them to wait outside. If things didn't turn out the way they all hoped him didn't want them in here to see his response again.

Just about the time he was ready to bounce off the wall the door opens and Dr. Franden enters with his nurse and Drs. Jules and Gorma to witness. Dr. Franden removes the bandages and wipes off the gel on his eyelids, "Ok Commander, open your eyes slowly and give them a moment to focus."

Keith opens his eyes slowly and doesn't speak but blinks several times and turns looking around the room still blinking. Dr. Franden watches his eyes working on focusing before he asks, "So what can you see Commander?"

Keith smiles, "Everything…even if it goes out of focus…"

Dr. Franden smiles at him, "That is to be expected at first…as your eyes adjust that problem will go away."

Keith laughs and jumps down from the exam table moving around the room picking things up to look at them and putting them down again to move onto something else. Dr. Gorma walks up to him, "Your friends are waiting to find out how you are…"

Keith gets a mischievous smile on his face, "Let me have some fun with this…"

He wonders out to the waiting room staring straight ahead of him a serious look on his face. He can see the looks of disappointment on the faces in front of him. Hunk stands up in front of him, "Captain, can't you see us at all?"

Keith finally turns his face toward Hunk, "Yes thank God, even if it is your ugly mug…" and starts laughing as Hunk shouts with joy and pounds him on the back. Everyone walks up to him hugging him or patting his back. He almost runs out of the room as Nanny hugs him; as looks up away from her and he smiles at Allura who has tears running down her cheeks; he then turns away to speak with Coran.

Nanny wipes tears off her own face and sighs, "I need to get back to the kitchen to finish the celebration dinner tonight." She then turns and leaves the room.

Keith looks over at Coran, "Celebration dinner?"

Coran smiles, "Well mixture of a formal celebration dinner and a goodbye dinner for Sven and Romelle. It is to take place in the ballroom."

Keith looks at Sven who is standing with his arm around Romelle, "We need to return to Pollux…we've been gone too long."

Keith nods, "Well then I guess I had best get to my room and get cleaned up."

* * *

Keith enters the ballroom wearing his dress uniform and moves toward Lance who is standing near the appetizers tugging at his collar while talking to Hunk and Pidge. Lance looks him over, "How's the eyes?"

Keith smiles, "I'm still having some trouble focusing, but I was told that would get better. Shaving has gotten a lot easier."

Lances laughs and then points to the door as Sven and Romelle enter the ballroom. Sven is also wearing his dress uniform. Romelle is dressed in a formal emerald green ball gown, the top part of her hair pulled up high on her head with the rest flowing down her back.

As they approach the guys Romelle smiles at them, "Good evening gentlemen."

Keith performs a bow and takes her hand and kisses it. Sven growls at him, "Get your own…" which causes everyone to laugh.

Coran enters the room escorting Allura who is beautiful in a pale ice blue ball gown with a lace overlay. Like Romelle part of her hair is pulled high on her head with the rest flowing down her back. She smiles as she approaches the group. Lance leans toward Keith, "Isn't this your own?"

Keith gives Lance a dirty look and discretely elbows him in the side as he moves forward, "Good evening Princess Allura." He performs a bow, "May I escort you to dinner?" She smiles her acceptance and takes his elbow as he escorts her to the table leaving the rest to follow behind.

Dinner is a long affair with all the dishes Nanny had made. Everyone was in high spirits with toasts being made around the table. After dessert Keith looks up to see a small orchestra starting to play music. Sven rises and takes Romelle's hand leading her out to the floor to dance.

Keith looks over to see Allura watching the dancing couple with longing. He rises and offers his hand to Allura, "Care to dance Princess?"

Allura smiles at him and rises taking his hand. Keith leads her out to the floor and begins waltzing her around the room. She smiles at Romelle as they pass by her and Sven. She sighs and places her cheek on Keith's shoulder and becomes upset as she feels him stiffen.

Keith looks down at her and begins, "I've made my decision Princess Allura. I hope you will abide by it."

At his choice of words and the tone of his voice she looks apprehensively up into his face, he doesn't smile at her and in fact looks away from her. "I've given it a lot of thought and came to a decision this afternoon." He stops dancing and pulls away from her before he finally looks back into her face, his face is carefully neutral. A single tear runs down Allura's cheek as she nods and turns to walk away from him.

Keith grabs Allura pulling her against him as he dips her backward before kissing her full on the mouth. He pulls back and smiles at the shocked expression on her face and whispers, "I've decided I can't live without you Allura…I love you." Keith brings her upright and holding her in his arms he kisses her again both of them oblivious to the sound of applause coming from across the room.


End file.
